Absentee ballot rules still murky

ATLANTA - The sweeping changes to Georgia's election laws earlier this year are so vast the State Election Board continues to try to figure them out.

For instance, Wednesday the board dismissed a complaint against Camden County because the rules it is accused of violating aren't clear.

A local resident filed a formal complaint after she found that there were no specific accommodations to assist handicapped people wanting to vote absentee.

Secretary of State Cathy Cox, who chairs the Election Board, noted that the law technically only requires handicapped-voter accommodations in "polling places" but not necessarily in special locations set up for absentee voting.

Clearing up that question is one of a half-dozen proposed changes in the election-law overhaul passed earlier this year.

The provision of the new law that drew the most attention was its requirement of a government-issued photo-ID for voters. A federal judge has order a temporary suspension of that provision until a lawsuit challenging it runs its course.

But House Speaker Glenn Richardson said the General Assembly would address the problems the court identified in the law when the legislature convenes next month.

"We're going to put that out quickly," he said. "You're going to need a photo ID to vote in Georgia."

Other aspects of the law remain in effect. The one with the biggest impact on voters is allowing anyone to vote absentee even if they could go to their precinct on Election Day.

"With the legislation we have now in Georgia, we could have 50 percent voting by absentee," said board member Tex McIver. "These (poll workers) could be drowning in absentee ballots."

A task force of local election officials from across the state presented the board with three pages of recommendations on how to deal with so many paper absentee ballots.

One recommendation was allowing the counting of absentee ballots to begin first thing Election Day instead of waiting until the polls close. The group also suggested extended in-person early voting from five days to the 45 days for absentee ballots.

Early voting has met resistance from Republicans who control the legislature, though, who say there are fewer chances for fraud with absentee ballots.

"The political reality is that Republicans like to vote from home by absentee and Democrats like to go down to the polls to vote in person," Cox said.

That debate is likely to continue as the board drafts new rules and legislative proposals in the coming weeks.